What if?
by siri.arnheim
Summary: Bloom has changed after what happened on Shadowhaunt. She's become distant, and is pushing everyone away. No one knows what really happened to her. Her nightmares are keeping her up at night. She is losing focus, and getting behind in her classes. Too top it all off there is a new enemy terrorizing the magical dimension, and this new enemy seems to be a bit of a stalker.
1. Chapter 1

_This is an alternate storyline to season 3. There will be some major changes. Warning there will be some graphic scenes._

Bloom was lying in a bed opposite them, gazing up at the ceiling. Since she had returned to the school she had not, as far as anyone knew, uttered a single word. Nobody really knew what was really wrong with her, either. Her usually wild fiery red hair was tangled and messy, but otherwise she seemed to be quite unscathed.

"Headmistress Faragonda says she's just in shock," whispers Flora.

"More like sulking," Stella said not bothering to lower her voice. Which made Bloom sit up straight with a jolt, looking around wildly, and breathing heavily.

"Anything wrong, Bloom?" Called miss Ophelia, poking her head around the office door.

"No, no," said Bloom sinking back into her pillow. "No, I was just dreaming." Her eyes were blank and expressionless. Ophelia had a worried look on her face, but let it slide for now.

Bloom used the following day to relax and recover. She was excused from classes on Faragonda's orders, and used the time to catch up on what she missed during her absence. Before she knew it a day had gone by, and she had seemingly gotten back to normal. The school year was over, and Alfea hosted a party to celebrate the defeat of Lord Darkar. Cloud Tower and Red Fountain was invited as a thank you for the help they had provided in the fight.

The celebration party had been a big blur for Bloom. She remembered Sky acting really weird that evening. He seemed pretty shocked that she could remember what he had said to her when she was in Darkars trance. The fact was; she could remember everything. What Darkar made her do to her friends, what _she_ had done to her friends, and what Darkar had done to her. It had been like a first class ticket to a real life horror movie, and she had no choice but obey. When the whole thing was over, all she was left with was a sense of guilt and paralyzing feeling of fear.

That evening she started drinking hoping it would take the edge off, and everything that happened after they took those group photos was really not clear. Sky got an urgent phone call sometime after that and had to leave. He couldn't even look her in the eyes when he told her he had to leave, which made her feel like a burden. He had barely spoken to her that night. For three weeks she had been in hell. She had only just gotten back, and now Sky was leaving her.

She was sitting in her room with the rest of the Winx. They were having a pajamas party after the main party had ended. Stella had insisted that they all needed a last girls' night together before the vacation started. Flora, Stella and herself were the only once still awake, the others had fallen asleep on top of a pillow mountain between her and Flora's bed. Flora was sitting on her own bed facing them while Bloom was laying in her bed with her had on Stellas lap.

"You know he was pretty worried about you." It was Flora that pulled her out of her thoughts. "Sky I mean."

"Yeah, he was like all worked up about getting you back. He would barely sleep. He was spending so much time here at Alfea, Ms. Faragonda had to call Brandon to escort him back to Red Fountain several times. It was his plan to ask princess Amentia for help" Stella confirmed.

"Then why did he just leave me without any explanation?" She asked them.

"He wouldn't leave you if he didn't have to," Flora reassured her. "There was probably some kind of emergency back at Eraklyon."

This calmed her down a bit. "Yeah you're probably right."

"I don't know about you guys, but it's 3am and I need my beauty sleep." Stella yawned, standing up leaving Blooms head to fall onto the mattress below.

"We should probably try to get some sleep, there is a lot to do today. You can try calling him again in the morning, you can ask him then."

"What shall we do with Musa, Aisha and Tecna?" Bloom asked not sure what to do about her friends that were all cuddled up on the floor.

"I don't think we should wake them up right now." Flora said. "None of us have had any real sleep in a while."

"Well if they're not leaving then I'm staying to. Bloom scoot over." Stella said making her way under her friends covers. Flora made her way under her covers too, but before she laid down she whispered a small spell to summon a duvet to cover their sleeping friends. Soon the last of them had fallen asleep as well.

What they didn't know was that Aisha wasn't sleeping. She was very much awake and had heard the whole conversation. She was resting her eyes when she heard them talking about Sky, but was too scared to open her eyes. Afraid that they might find out the truth about what had happened when Bloom was held captive. Afraid that Bloom would hate her for what she had done, and that she would be frozen out by her friends. So she kept her eyes shut, and pretended to be asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning arrived sooner than expected. The morning light was sieving through the window, lighting the room with a soft glow. She jolted up from her bed breathless as venomous trepidation emitted throughout her body. She could hear her heart beats echo in her head. The dreadful feeling of being tied to a cold hard stone surface was fresh in her memory. Trying to even her breathing, Bloom realized she was the last one to wake up. Everyone else had already gone, probably to get some breakfast, leaving her alone in the room.

After some time, she got dressed and made her way to the dining room herself. She found the others laughing and smiling with the pixies at their usual table. The sight made her stomach turn, and suddenly she got cold feet. Seeing her friends happy, it reminded her of the last time she had smiled like that, it felt so distant now. Quickly grabbing an apple and heading out of there, she made her way for the forest outside of school grounds. Angry at herself because she couldn't enjoy her own happy memories anymore, she fell down against a tree and started crying for the first time after she got back. She brought her knees close to her chest.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but it didn't take a mirror to know her eyes were puffy and red. Her head was still pounding a little even though she had stopped crying some time ago. She had laid down on her back, to get a better view of the sky. Clutching her apple tight in her hands, probably piercing it with her nails.

She tried to eat the apple but it just tasted like poison in her mouth. Throwing the apple away she decided it was time to head back. Making her way back she just now realized how far out she had gone. She was wondering what she should say to the others, as they probably would be worried for her being gone so long.

She checked her phone to see if they had tried to reach her. Someone had tried calling her twice, but it wasn't the girls, it was Sky. She was debating if she should call him back or not, but didn't get the time as he was already ahead of her calling her once more. She answered the call and brought her phone up to her ear. Not saying anything, afraid her voice would give away that she had been crying.

"Bloom?" She could hear his concerned voice in the other end.

"Yeah," not wanting to say anything more she waited for him to lead the conversation.

"Great dragon," he sighed somewhat in relief. "I was worried I wouldn't get the chance to talk to you before my flight gets here." He paused a little before continuing. "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

"Bloom you still there?" He asked after not getting any reply.

"Yeah, yeah" She breathed out not realizing she had been holding it. "I'm still here." She was a little taken aback and a little hurt over the fact he hadn't come to see her in beforehand.

"Hey are you okay?" he asked. Worry in his voice.

"Yeah I'm fine" she lied.

"Don't lie to me Bloom," he said in a concerned grownups voice. As if talking to a five-year old that was lying about eating the last piece of cake.

"I'm just tired. We kept the party going for quite some time at our dorm after everyone left last night. Everyone slept over at my and Flora's room." She made sure to yawn at the end make it more convincible. It wasn't a complete lie, but her untruth didn't make her feel and better.

"Thanks for calling." She added on a later note. "I need to finish packing, but some of the other girls have invited me to come stay with them at their home realms in the vacation. I'm supposed to stay with Flora this weekend at Linphea. Maybe when I'm at Solaria with Stella you and Brandon could come visit as well, and we could all go on a double date." She suggested. This time it was he who didn't answer. Regretting bringing it up, she quickly made up an excuse to hang up and get away from the eerie silence.

"I have to go. Stella is having another wardrobe crisis. Bye." She hung up before he could answer.

When she got back the Winx dorm was a mess. The door to Stella's room was open. Bloom peeped in and could see clothes flying around everywhere, jumping in and out of suitcases.

"I'll take this one to moms, that one to dads, no wait I need the blue top to mom's picnic, but then I should have the red dress to dad's royal parade" Stella's voice beamed throughout the room.

"The red dress is really pretty Stella," Amore was flying around dodging the clothes that were coming her way.

"True, I should probably wear it to mom's garden tea party, do you know any cloning spells?" Stella was wandering.

"Umm. Uh, uh." Amore answered shaking her head.

"Oh. Stella stop worrying about it and just divide your stuff in half, then wear whatever you have." Musa was getting tired of having to take part in Stella's wardrobe crisis.

"Wear whatever, you've got to be kidding." Stella looked shocked how insensitive her friend was being about her situation.

Musa sighed and headed for the door where she stood. She looked surprised to see the redhead standing there. Stella noticed Musa's expression and turned to look for herself.

"Bloom, good your back. I need your help." The blond exclaimed.

"Me?" she asked skeptical.

"Yes you. Get in here!" She waved for her friend to come in.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Musa sighed happy there was someone to take her place.

"Stella I need to pack my own bags." She raised her hands and started backing away. She made her escape for her own room, leaving the blond pouting.

Back at her and Flora's room she found Flora packing the last of her bags.

"All the arrow magic potions go in the big bag, and all the floral scents go in the small one."

"Ah were on it flora," Chatta exclaimed handing a small bottle to one of Floras plants, with laid the bottle carefully into Flora's bag.

Bloom closed the door behind her and breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Hey where did you go?" The brunette turned to greet her, suddenly showing sign of concern. "What's wrong Bloom? Have you been crying?"

"I just talked to Sky and we sort of had a fight." She started fiddling with the hair tie around her wrist.

"Oh sweetie come here." Flora took the red head in for a hug with a warm embrace, soothing her friend and rubbing her back. They just stood there hugging. It felt nice. Flora always knew how to calm someone down. She was grateful she didn't have to explain herself any further. Flora helped her pack her bags before they joined the others out in the courtyard. Apparently the others had decided to head out to the new beach at the eastern shore before separating for the vacation, so that's where they were headed.

"Thank you for letting me stay with you. I really didn't want to spend my vacation working at mom's flower shop again." She was also really grateful she didn't have to face her adoptive parents right away.

"No problem Bloom. It's nice that you want to come. I can't wait to show you the garden and greenhouse, and my sister Miele is so excited to meet you. My parents are also thrilled I'm bringing a friend, since I haven't had a guest over since second grade. They are away on a meeting for most of the weekend, so we may have to help a little around the house, other than that we can do whatever you want." The brunette smiled with delight. They crossed the school yard to where the other girls stood.

"Change off plans girls, everyone is coming to Solaria." Stella exclaimed looking at me and Flora in particular, probably since we had missed the critical part of the conversation.

"But …" Bloom started, but got cut off by Stella.

"No if's and but's. I just found out I'm having a princess ball. It's a once in a lifetime event, and I want to share it with all of you." Stella had placed an arm around her shoulder, squealing in excitement.

"I don't mean to sound dumb, but what's a princess ball exactly?" The redhead asked confused.

"It's like a coming out party for royalty. It means a princess is officially entering the royal society." Aisha explained, not sounding too happy about the whole thing.

"Believe it or not, that's when they used to announce who you were going to marry back when they had arranged marriages." Musa added as a side note.

"It's still the case in some kingdoms." Aisha said, almost as if speaking of her own experience.

"Yuck, can you imagine." The blond pretended to puke.

They continued to talk on the bus to Magix.

"It's really easy. You just load it in to the magi port and it invites everyone from you Facebook." Tecna explained.

"You are a genius Tecna." Stella thanked her friend. "Just remember that we want keep the guest list under a thousand.

"I did get _some_ help from Digit." Tecna smiled.

"Excuse me. I did all the work!" Digit crossed her arms offended she didn't get more credit.

"It's great that your pops are throwing a princess ball for you Stella, not a lot of dads know how to do that stuff. You know." Musa sounded impressed by the fact.

"Well, including mine. My mom is the party planner." The blond sighed.

"Maybe she is in on it." Bloom wondered aloud.

"I bet you're right. The invitation didn't say from king Radius. It said it was from the royal court, and the royal court is them together. Mom and dad. I bet they are getting back together. My dad said he has a surprise for me. That must be it. My parents are going to be my parents again." Stella exclaimed even more excited than before, if that was even possible. "This calls for some shopping. I need a new dress for the occasion, and I want you all to come."

"But we were supposed to go to the beach." Musa complained halfheartedly.

"That can wait!" Stella smirked, eager to get some new clothes.

"I'm game." Bloom volunteered not knowing what she had gotten herself into.

"Bloom will you come with me to Solaria tonight and help me prepare." Stella looked at the redhead with big puppy eyes.

"Is that alright for you Flora? I know we had the weekend planned, but this seems really important to Stella." Bloom didn't want to disappoint her friend, by not following through on their plans.

"Hey It's Ok Bloom. Besides the party won't last the whole weekend, we can still spend some time on Linphea afterwards if you're up to it." The nature Fairy reassured. "Plus Stella would kill me if I said no."

"Yey, thank you girls. I knew I could count on you." Stella cried out grateful for her friends.

When they got off the bus Aisha wandered off to some place, while the others decided to get some food. After a failed attempt of getting some pizza, causing a scandal with some girls from another magic school, the Winx had separated. Musa had gone to get her hair spelled, while Tecna and Flora wandered off to some other stores, Bloom and Stella was left alone with finding themselves the perfect dresses for the party. Afterwards they were supposed to meet at the beach around one o'clock.

After running through a few stores, Stella finally found the right dress, only for the last one to be bought by the same girls from the pizza shop, so they had to find another one. It took some time but eventually they found another dress for Stella. When they got to the beach the rest of the Winx was already there.

"Hey you guys, how did the shopping go?" Aisha greeted them.

"I was ok I guess." Not yet over the fact Stella had lost her first dress to someone else. "Hey Musa that hair spell looks grate on you."

"Thanks. Did you get your dress?"

That's when Bloom started to space out, but it didn't last long as she was tapped on the shoulder. She looked over at Aisha who was now standing slightly behind her.

"Hey Bloom can we talk?" Aisha asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah sure, what's on your mind?" She was a little confused that Aisha seemed so nervous.

"Not here." The brunette pulled her friend away so the others couldn't hear them.

"Is everything ok Aisha?" She asked when they were alone.

"No." This had Bloom a little worried. Aisha wasn't the person to open up for anyone easily. "There's something you need to know." She didn't get any further than that, as someone interrupted them.

"Hey Bloom. There you are." The person walked up from behind them and took Bloom in for a hug. "Hey Aisha." To say that they were startled was an understatement.

"Sky." She half asked half greeted. "When did u get here? I thought you would be back at Eraklyon by now."

"I got the invite to Stella's princess party midflight, and convinced the pilots to turn around. I would never miss an excuse to dance with you." Sky said kissing Bloom at the cheek.

"Hey Sky" Aisha addressed the prince. When Bloom got free from Sky's hug, she looked at Aisha asking if they should find another place. Whatever Aisha was about to say to Bloom, it was clear that she didn't want to say it anymore.

"I can wait." She said turning away from the two. Bloom wanted to say something but, Aisha had already begun walking.

"Hey Sky could I and Aisha get a minute alone? I think she had something to tell me." Sending Sky, a week smile telling him she wouldn't take long.

"I'm sure it's nothing. She said it could wait." Sky said to appease her. "Stella told me you two went shopping. I bet you're hungry after something like that. Come on I'll make us some food." Sky took her hand and started maneuvering her towards the others who had already set up the grill. Timmy was laying hamburgers at the grill, and Musa was helping Riven with the radio.

"Something's wrong" Aisha shouted, running back to the group.

"I know." Riven said. "We're changing the statin now.

"No I mean something is wrong with the ocean." She pointed at the waves building up.

"Whoa, they didn't lie when they said the waves were rocking." Riven awed in admiration.

"That wave is too big to surf in Riven" Stella rolled her eyes at the boy.

"On," Timmy corrected.

"What?" Stella turned her gaze to Timmy for him to clarify, but Riven was already ahead of him.

"It's surf on, not in, and I could totally do it. Just watch me." Riven grabbed a board, and heading for the water.

"Riven stop is not safe." Aisha shouted. He didn't hear her over the roar of the waves, but he got the idea when people started running the other way. "Come on girls, we need to get everyone out of the water."

"Let's go!" They yelled in union. There was a flash of light, and a moment later the Winx were hovering a few inches above the ground in their fairy forms.

"Let's try to hold the wave back." Bloom suggested. They all nodded combining their magic to keep the wave from crashing over everyone in the water. This gave the specialists time to get everyone out of the water, and they could release the wave.

Breathing out in relief of their victory, they almost missed the cry of help coming from a little girl still in the water.

"Oh no over there, there is a little girl." Flora called out.

"I'm on it!" said Aisha, diving into the water after her. She grabbed the girl, and flied them out of the water. Everyone cheered for her as she landed on the beach with the little girl in her hands. She put the girl down, who run back to her mother and father.

"Well I must say that was refreshing." Sky joked. He and the other specialists had taken of their now wet shirts.

"That waves appearance was an anomaly." Tecna said sounding intrigued by the fact.

"A big time anomaly." Timmy confirmed.

"What do you think caused it?" Bloom asked wondering what theories Tecna might have come up with.

"I'm pretty sure it was from a dimensional shockwave and that means something terrible has happened to the heart of all oceans." She sounded worried, like this was just the beginning.

"Hey look what's that." Musa pointed to something glistering in the sea. They could see it was a spark of magic, and soon enough someone appeared in the water. It was a girl, but not a regular girl, she had a fish's tail.

"That's a mermaid," Bloom said not believing her eyes. The others looked at her for a second, before writing it off as another thing they didn't know about on earth. "I didn't know they existed."

"There's not a lot of them left. Most of them live on Tides, but there is still a few scattered around in some of the other realms."

"Princess Aisha?" The mermaid spoke, asking for their teammate.

"Cyrene, I'm right over here." The princess waved.

Cyrene spoke in foreign language Bloom the others didn't recognize.

"What did she say?" Stella wondered aloud.

"I don't know yet" The technology fairy said, pulling out her computer. "It will take a few minutes for me to translate."

"No need." Aisha interrupted her friend. "She says Tides is in trouble, I have to go immediately."

"We'll come with you." Flora said.

"Yeah!" Musa agreed. Wanting to help her friend.

"Thanks guys, but you can't. I have to travel through the ocean, and I have to go right now." With that the brunette took off in to the sea. Swimming out to meet the mermaid. She waved at her friends one last time before diving under, not returning to the surface.


	3. Chapter 3

After Aisha left with the mermaid, the others didn't really feel like having a cook out after all. The girls had gone back to Alfea taking an early night, while at Tides things are just starting to stir up.

Tecna had just walked in, and the girls were all, except from Aisha, in the common room. Helping Stella finishing repacking her bags, or rather accompanying her while she did all the work. The blond had insisted on doing it all over since she was having a princess ball in her honor, and she was convinced her parents were getting back together. Bloom had a feeling that wasn't the case, but wasn't going to rain on her friends' parade.

"Have you heard anything from Aisha yet?" Bloom asked the magenta haired girl.

"No. I've tried every possible way of communication I know, and got nothing."

"She better have a really good reason for missing out on the party of the year."

"What are you taking about, my birthday isn't until December." Bloom said trying to keep a straight face. Cross that about not raining on her parade, one small cloud couldn't hurt anyone. Right?

"I'm not talking about your party. I'm talking about my princess ball, which is tomorrow." Stella nearly freaked out. By now everyone was laughing at Stella's frustration. "Oh you were joking. That was a joke." The blond picked up a pillow throwing it square in her friend's face. Bloom didn't hesitate to send it back.

"Bloom don't you ever do that again. There are certain things that are just way too important to joke about, and my party is one of them."

Bloom had packed what she needed for the trip, and had left Kiko with Vanessa and Mike for the weekend, since Stella had a strict rule against pets at her party. She and Stella was traveling in advance, making sure everything was ready for launch before the party. Stella, putting her last hats in her box, pulled of her famous silver ring with the characteristic orange gem, throwing it up in the air transforming it into the sword of Solaria. She caught the scepter gracefully spinning it in her hand a few times before resting it on the flour. God she could be such a show off.

"You ready girl?" Stella looked at Bloom with hopeful eyes. "You're going to love Solaria."

"Yeah I guess, but something has been kind of bugging me."

"Is it my face?" The blond panicked touching her cheeks. "I knew my pores were starting to show."

"No, no Stella you look fine." She took a deep breath, not wanting to sound like an idiot, but someone had to ask. "You mentioned once before that it never rains on Solaria. How is that even possible? Is Solaria some kind of desert planet?"

The blond blinked a few times. Not expecting that kind of question. "Yeah we have lots of dessert. We have among a dozen hundred different flavors of cakes, but what does that have to do with rain?"

"Desert not dessert, Stella." Tecna jumped in. She pulled up her computer from god knows where, and started typing. "And it's not a desert planet. The high air humidity keeps the planet vegetated, despite that there's no rain. A long time ago a group of travelers discovered the planet, but they couldn't live there because the sun was too powerful. They cast a protection spell around the planet, and raised a magical atmosphere protecting them from UV light, that's why everyone on Solaria is white, you literally can't get a tan on Solaria. The sun is still very bright, so I would suggest wearing sunglasses. The atmosphere also keeps clouds from forming therefore there is no rain."

"Oh yeah, I think I've learned something similar in school." Stella said trying to recall what they had thought her back on Solaria.

"So." She hesitated. "I don't need any sunscreen?"

"Not according to this." The technology fairy said still staring at her screen.

"Fuck, I've been stacking up on sunscreen for this trip, what a waist." The red head complained. Wandering what she should do with her bag that was filled with over 50% sunscreen, and enough makeup to cover her scars for months. ' _Don't judge, redheads get easier sunburns.'_ It was a curse and a blessing having red hair. All though her hair was constantly a mess, uncontrollable like fire and a hell trying to comb. Sometimes she just wanted to cut it off. Maybe it was a curse?

"Ok, well that's enough. We don't need more lectures this vacation. Wait until the summer is over" Musa silenced Tecna, sending Bloom and Stella on their way. "Any way you need to get going."

"Were going, were going." Stella said playing hurt. "Solaria." She griped the scepter with both her hands swinging it through the air, creating a portal for them to step through.

Tecna was right, _shocking I know_ , the air humidity was intense. It hit her the minute she stepped through the portal. It took her a minute to regain her breathing. "So?" The blond smiled. "What do you think?" Stella took this loss of words like amazement, and linked her arms with Bloom ready to give her a tour.

Bloom had briefly met King Radius, who as Brandon described as a very uptight and scary man, had been warm and welcoming towards her, insisting she should act as if she was in her own home. Even though her parent's house was a hundred rooms smaller, she said she would try.

Stella dragged her through the castle, visiting every room that was essential to the party. Starting with the garden they continued to the ballroom and the balcony connected to it. They also went to the kitchen where the staff was working overtime, getting the pastries ready for the next day. They were soon thrown out by the head chef, but not before Stella could grab with her two cupcakes. A little snack for the road. There was just one more room Stella wanted to show her before they started working.

They were standing in front of a light colored wooden door with carvings of the sun and the moon. "I've saved the best for last." She smiled, pressing the middle of the sun on the door, the door opened reviling a dimly lit room surrounded by darkness. "This is the hall of the universe." It looked small from the outside, but once she stepped inside the room seemed endless in every direction. All the light was gathered in the middle of the room coming from a 3D map of the dimension. It was magnificent. What made it even more so, was the fact that the whole thing was constantly moving. Spinning around and around with the sun in the middle. "I used to come up her and stare at the planet for hours when I was little."

"It's beautiful." Was all she managed to say. Bloom stepped a little closer. There was one planet that catched her eye, and as it made its way past her, she reached her hand out to meet it. Making contact with the glowing orb, she gasped as the magic energy coursed through her. A shiver run through her spine as she was cast into the past. She couldn't help but cry at the images she was shown. Dark magic was at work, destroying cities and raking havoc over the people. She could see the ancestral witches laughing at the destruction of domino.

She was brought back by a warm hand wiping away her tears. "Don't cry sweetie."

"It's alright Stella, I'm good." She gave her friend a small smile, which made the blond jump her with a hug. She was a little overwhelmed by the sudden intrusion of personal space, but she leaned into the hug anyway burying her head in the Stella's hair.

"Come on we have lots to do, and don't forget were here to have fun. No frowns allowed. Just think about tomorrow it's going to be a great day." Stella assured her. "There is just one more thing I want to check on before we pack out." Soon they were on the move again. Stella lead them down a new set of corridors, or it could be the same, all the corridors looked pretty much identical to Bloom.

They were soon in a new room, and out of all the things she didn't expect this or rather so many. The room was filled with presents from the floor to the ceiling in all shapes and color. "Wow, is all of these for you?" She asked the blond, still studying the presents trying to calculate how many there were. Hundreds maybe thousands.

"They sure are." There was a little pause. "Hey do you think my mother is really coming back, and that's the surprise my father is going to pronouns at the party?"

Bloom really doubted it, thinking she would have seen the queen in the palace if that was the deal. When she saw the hope shining in her friend's eyes, it reminded her about her own parents and even though there was a slim chance she hoped and prayed for them to be alive and well out there somewhere. Not wanting to brake Stella's heart, she went along with it. "I'm sure she is Stella."

"Hello Stella" A plummy voice spoke from behind them grabbing their attention. There was a tall woman with pale blond hair standing there. At first Bloom thought it was Stella's mother. ' _Now don't judge, she had never actually seen Stella's mom. If it had been, Stellas dream of her parents getting back together, wouldn't have been so farfetched after all.'_ But she crossed that scenario out of her mind when neither of them went in for a hug.

"May I present countess Cassandra." Stella introduced. "Countess." They bowed to each other in courtesy.

"Hi there" She waved her hand, wanting to slap herself the minute she did. _What a stupid way of greet royalty._ Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice, or at least if she did, she didn't say anything.

"This is my best friend Bloom." Stella continued the introduction. The countess gave her a small nod.

"Oh look over here. This is the gift I got for you." Cassandra walked past them picking up small sized jewelry box, opening it so they could look inside. At least Stella could, Bloom was blinded by the amount of light the necklace was reflecting.

"That's so pretty." Stella awed.

"My daughter chose it." The countess continued. "She is in the advanced sorcery program at the realm renowned Beta Academy. Come say hello Chimera." Slowly a girl stepped into the room carefully greeting them. It took Bloom two seconds to recognize the pale, deep blue haired girl, and Stella half a second. The girl from the pizza bakery in Magix, was smiling nervously at the princess of Solaria.

"You, you. YOU'RE THE DRESS THIFE." Stella shouted furiously, closing in on the poor girl. Though you couldn't really feel sorry for her the way she had acted like a total snob the day before, sending two puppies falling to their death. If it hadn't been for Chimera's anger management problems, spewing out magic beams all over the place, Stella would have gotten the dress. Bloom and Stella had to transform to save the puppies from falling from the 4th floor, leaving Chimera and her friends with enough time to get the dress.

"Boy, it's a small world your highness." Chimera started to back away from the steaming princess.

"What's going on here? I don't understand." The countess asked a little scared for what the princess might do to her daughter.

"Well, countess. They met in Magix yesterday, and you might say they didn't really get off on the right foot." She looked surprised. Maybe because Bloom was the one to answer her question. She wasn't exactly royalty, and some royals didn't exactly tolerate that.

"I didn't steal anything I bought that dress fair and square, but since you're the princess and you should have any dress you want, I'll just give it to you."

Not believing her ears, the blond started yelling. "YOU KEEP IT! I don't wear second hand clothes. How dear you even suggest it?!"

At first Chimera was shocked by Stella not acknowledging her gesture of being nice, but it didn't take her long to get as heated as Stella was. Bloom swore she could see steam coming out of both their ears. She thought Chimera would spit something feisty back, but to her surprise the girl just turned on her heals and stormed out of the room. So did Stella, just the other way. It took Bloom a few seconds to react. She threw a brief good bye to the countess, who by the way didn't look all that happy she was still there, before trailing after Stella. Easier said than done. Stella was fast in her high heels. Stella did also have longer legs then her. She had to run to catch up with her.

' _Darkness was surrounding her from all sides. "Your heart will turn dark Bloom." His voice echoed from all around. "When I'm done with you, you'll be as evil as me." She tried to cover her ears, but something was holding her back. She was trapped. Her arms and legs were tied down, and she was once again laying on that god forsaken table. She wanted to scream, and she probably was._

" _You're mine now Bloom" The last thing he said, reminded her of how powerless she was against him, and how he had claimed her mind and body.'_

She woke up with a jolt. She could barely breath, and her head was banging from the lack of oxygen. Her sheets were drenched in sweat and so was she. Looking at her phone she saw that the clock was 5.57am. It was way too early to get up, and it was no way she was getting any more sleep now. Stella probably wouldn't be up for a couple of hours, so she could probably get out and draw for a while, right? Wrong. As she was looking through her beg for her art supplies, Stella barked through the door, carrying a shit load of clothes.

"Oh good you're up." Cursing internal for not being able to get out sooner, she gave Stella a week smile. "It's 12hours until my party starts, and we have a lot of things to get done."

She walked in dumping her clothes on the end of the bed. "We need to select a few more outfits."

"I thought you were going to wear the one we got in Magix." Feeling a bit cheated they went on a three-hour shopping trip only for Stella to pick something else.

"It's for the pre party and the post party, party."

Stella had planned the day down to every breaking minute. It only took the about an hour to get all the outfits sorted out. At six o'clock they were getting their hair done at the royal hair and nail salon, and two hours later Stella was getting a face mask to get rid of her big pours. ' _Which by the way wasn't that big, Bloom couldn't see any signs of them even existing.'_

Chimera had been following them around trying to ruin Stellas day, but it only backfired at her. Stella was obviously prepared for this as she gave Bloom a mirror to reflect any spell she might throw towards them, sending them back to her. Sending Chimera crying back to her mother. Bloom almost felt bad for her, almost, but that was pushed aside as she and Stella was laughing their asses off.

Stella had finally let her get some alone time, and she literally jumped in relief, barely paying attention to Stellas description on how to get back to her room.

It took Bloom a total of eight minutes to get lost. She tried to follow Stella's directions, which had lead her nowhere. After a while she gave up and tried to find her way back to the salon where Stella was, but with no use. She didn't recognize any of the corridors on her way back, and soon she trapped in a maze of halls. The longer she spent in the corridors the more it felt like they were shifting and moving around, much like the stairs at Hogwarts.

She was starting to get real tired of trying to find her way around the palace. She was roaming in the castle corridors trying to find something that looked familiar. Relived of hearing familiar voices she sprung to meet them. She ended up at the top of a staircase, where the voices were clearer.

"Hey Stella your directions suck." Realizing it wasn't Stella at the bottom of the stairs she cursed internally. Her cursing got even worse when she realized who she had yelled to. Countess Cassandra and her daughter Chimera stood with a man she had never seen before at the bottom of the stairs looking rater startled they had been interrupted in the middle of something that looked like an important conversation. The man was almost as pale as Chimera, with strawberry blond hair and a characteristic burgundy coat reaching down to his ankles. Oddly enough he seemed to be smirking.

' _The day couldn't possibly get any worse than this.'_

"I apologize Countess. I thought I heard Stella." The Countess regained her posture, she proceeded to walk up the stairs with Chimera and the mysterious man right behind her. "Say could you help me, I'm kind of lost. How do I get back to my room?"

"Down the stair, end of the corridor." Chimera was the one that answered. Not even bothering to look at her, Chimera pointed her in the right direction. Grateful that she was on the right tracks again, she gave a small nod as thank you as she passed by.

Not watching where she put her feet. The rug gave way under her boots, and she slipped, darting forwards into something hard. No not something, someone. ' _She was thrown into the past again, but this time there was no ancestress. Thank god for that. Instead she was in a dimly lit room. The name Baltor echoed through her mind. The mysterious man was standing there with her, but he looked right through her. His cold grey eyes were buried in something behind her. That's when she heard a cry. He walked passed her towards whoever it was, and she followed him towards a crib. He was standing over it looking down on whoever was laying inside. She tried to get a better view.'_

"Careful." He whispered in her ear pulling her back to reality.' _Oh look I could get worse._ ' She was so embarrassed her cheeks was burning, she could feel them turning as red as her hair. That was when she noticed he had gripped her arms keeping her steady. He finally let go of her when she could stand on her own again.

"I am so sorry," she mumbled not daring to meet his eye. He tilted her chin, for her to meet his gaze, with his index finger and thumb. He was almost a head taller them her, even though she was standing a few step above him.

"Watch your steps." Its wasn't a threat, or at least she didn't think it was. His voice carried no sign of hostility. He seemed rather cheery, in a sadistic way.

He let her go, and she darted down the stairs, not daring to look back up the stairs. She was left with a stray of questions. Who was he? Who was Baltor? Did he see the same as she? And who was the baby?

 **A/N:**

 **I know it has taken me quite some time to update, but guess what I'm back. Well I was never gone in the first place, so. . . I finally got some Baltor in there. There will be more in the next chapter, I promise.**

' _ **Don't make promises you can't keep.'**_ **OK I won't, but this one I can keep.**

 **I make my own logic. Whenever there's holes in the story, I will fill them with my fucked up creativity. You are welcome. Let me know if you also wonder how it's possible that it never rains on Solaria.**

 **Holes in the logic of a story annoys me, I just have to make my own answers to them. If you have noticed any holes in the Winx universe during the first three season, please share so we can be annoyed together.**

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

" _Careful, watch your step." Was all he said. Its wasn't a threat, or at least she didn't think it was. His voice carried no sign of hostility. He seemed rather cheery, in a sadistic way._

What a surprise. By the time Bloom found her way back to her room, she only had twenty minutes left to get in her attire for the evening and meet up with the others. Her plan of getting some time for herself clearly wasn't meant to be, and since Stella was going to bust her ass if she didn't look her very best, she got to work.

Out at the courtyard she could see the specialists ship approach from the distance. The welcoming horns were playing, and guests were starting to poor into the castle. She had barely managed to get her dress and makeup on before sprinting out too meet them. 'Not a good idea in high heels.' Nearly falling and breaking her ankle, she reached the ship as her friends disembarked. Flora, Brandon, Riven, Musa and Tecna all got off the ship. She didn't see Sky with them.

"Hey guys." She greeted them, trying not to look too disappointed. Part of her wanted to go inside to look for him even though she knew it was pointless.

"Hey Bloom." Flora looked a little upset too, not much, but enough for Bloom to notice. That's when she noticed neither Helia, Aisha or Timmy was there either.

"Where is everyone else? Are they ok?" Bloom asked, concern in her voice.

"We took separate ships. Sky and Timmy is riding with Helia, and their ship broke down, so they had to make an emergency landing somewhere on their way here." Flora explained.

"I spoke with Timmy, there seemed to be a slight rift in the engine from the previous mission we went on." Tecna said. "They must have forgotten to do the protocol system scan afterwards. Which is why it went by unnoticed, but now that they know what's wrong, the ship should be up and running in no time."

Bloom couldn't help but feel a little guilty. The 'previous mission' Tecna spoke off, was saving her ass from Shadowhaunt. "What about Aisha, have you heard anything?"

"No, we still can't reach her." The magenta haired fairy sighed.

"Let's not stand here and mope around. We have a party to crash." Riven smirked at the red head. "and don't worry Bloom, I'll keep you company." He winked putting an arm around her shoulders.

"EXCUSE YOU!" Musa barked, stomping past them making no effort to hide how angry she was with Riven for flirting with Bloom. Bloom was convinced he did it to annoy Sky, but Sky wasn't even there at the moment. Riven let go of Bloom's shoulder running after his girlfriend.

"She's not angry with you." Brandon reassured her with a small smile. "I think." He added rubbing his head in confusion. "Stella's not with you?"

"You'll see her soon." She smiled back, hiding how upset she really was.

They all walked in together, before splitting up. Bloom was tempted to stay behind with Riven and Musa, but Musa seemed to be pissed by Riven's previous comment. Flora and Tecna started dancing together, with Flora leading, which only left Brandon and her.

"Welcome my friends, thank you all for coming today." The king spoke. Everyone turned their attention towards him. "Now it is with great happiness and joy that I give you the bell of the ball. My princess and yours, Stella."

Brandon was gaping, when he laid his eyes on Stella making her entrance, unfortunately there was no one there too close his mouth for him. Stella laid her hand in king Radius's, a big smile on her face.

"My friends. I've got another announcement. This day is not only joyous because of Stella's princess ball, but also because this kingdom will soon have a queen again." The king continued. Stella, not expecting this, looked at her father with shock. "In one months' time, Countess Cassandra and I will be married." The crowds started cheering, as the countess made her way up to stand with the king and his daughter. If Bloom didn't know Stella very well, she wouldn't have noticed the horror in her eyes. The princess left her father's side as fast as she could without it looking suspicious.

"Are you kidding me?! Cassandra and that horrible wannabe Chimera are going to be my new family." You could see tears swelling in her eyes, all though she was trying really hard do hide it. "My life is ruined."

"At least it can't get any. . ." Brandon didn't get a chance to finish, since Bloom hit him on the shoulder.

"Don't jinx it." She hissed to him.

"Don't what now?" He looked completely lost. Stella ignored their bickering and walked past them. Bloom nudged Brandon's side, telling him to go after her and he did. She took this as her cue to find some place less crowded.

She made her way to the back of the ball room. It was all a bit much for her. The crowds made her feel more like an outsider than she already was.

She took a silver glass of something she assumed was champagne from one of the waitresses handing out drinks. One drink became two, and two became three. She found her way out to the balcony. The Solarian summer breeze and beautiful view muffling the noise of people, and finally she was alone. She was left with her own thoughts. It didn't bother her much

She was about to go get herself a fourth drink when she bumped into someone. 'This day keeps getting better, doesn't it?' She was going to apologize, but the person she bumped into was faster.

"Now doesn't this seem familiar. You sure you should be drinking any alcohol with that balance of yours?" He teased her. "Don't want you falling for any more strangers in the stairs now, do we?" _'Speak of the devil.'_ She was surprised to see the same man that was with Cassandra and Chimera standing there, she looked around to see if they were close by. Besides a couple or two, they were the only ones there. When she looked back, he had a foolish grin planted on his face.

"Shouldn't you be inside with the other royalty talking about politics or something?" she asked, not very amused by his poor attempt at flirting.

"Shouldn't you be inside with your friends talking about boys?"

"Touché" She sighed, although he didn't seem to notice. Realizing this evening was going to be a lot longer than she anticipated, not a help that her solitude was gone, she definitely needed that fourth drink.

She brought her glass up to her lips to salvage the last drops of alcohol, when it was snatched out of her hand to keep her from drinking anymore, only for him to discover it was already empty.

"I don't need a baby sitter." She said. Walking past him, she made her way inside again, and he followed suit.

"Good, cause I'm not here to play hero." The way he said it made her stop and look back at him. He had a playful grin on his face. _'Not here to play, right.'_ She rolled her eyes.

"Then let me drink." She challenged him, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. his gaze kept shifting. Observing the ballroom and its guests. "Who are you hiding from?" She asked. He looked at her with wary eyes as if he was debating if he should tell her or not, but he seemed to get a better idea.

"Who are _you_ hiding from?" He shot back.

"I'm not hiding, I'm just naturally invisible." She snorted, which made him laugh.

"I wouldn't say that. I've seen quite a few men with their eyes on you."

"You included, I take it?" He didn't answer, his attention was back at the crowds. "If you are just going to keep avoiding my questions. I'm gonna get that drink now." Somehow disappointed that he didn't pay attention to her, she sighed. "I'm gonna go look for my friends."

"What about we dance instead?" Before she could protest he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the dance floor. He placed one of her hands on his shoulder and took the other in his hand, placing a hand of his own on at the small of her back.

' _The wind picked up, which was strange since they were inside, sending chills down her spine._

" _BLOOM!" An ear piercing scream sounded through the room. She recognized the voice in an instant. Gasps filled the ballroom. Her dance partner had disappeared._

" _Stella?" She called back. Turning towards the source. She was meat with Stellas golden-brown eyes, but the creature holding those eyes was unfamiliar and green with froglike features. She was wearing Stella's dress, only it was torn and the once loosely fit fabric was stretched to the breaking point around her mutated body. Somehow this creature was indeed her friend, Stella._

" _Guards!" Radius called, pointing at the mutated princess. "Seize that awful creature!" The crowds were panicking._

" _No daddy it's me, Stella." The princess pleaded, but it was already too late. People were running franticly for the exit. "Bloom help me." Stella started crying. It was impossible for Bloom to reach her friend. Like a cat swimming upstream, she was fighting to get through to Stella. This was when Bloom noticed that the king was standing with the countess, who had a morbid smile on her face. When Cassandra noticed her staring, her grin twisted into annoyance._

" _That girl is her accomplice." The countess was pointing straight for the red head. "Take her too, they know where the real princess is." As the people heard this they started running from her too, which she really didn't mind since it cleared the path for her_

" _Don't listen to the countess she's lying" the red head yelled. The guards split up. They had already surrounded Stella, and were now starting to surround Bloom too, ready to attack. She could see the rest of the Winx on the other side._

" _That's not our princess, our princess would never look this hideous." Chimera spat._

" _But it's me. I'm Stella" The princess tried again. Radius didn't budge. "Daddy you have to believe me." Trying to get closer to the king Stella was thrown back by one of the guards, shoved down on the floor. Stella screamed as the guards stabbed her with their spears._

" _NOOO" The red head motioned for the Winx to get ready. Determination and anger displayed on their faces. There was a bright light as they all transformed. They flew up and over the guard landing besides Stella. Using their magic, they managed to push back the guards. She knelt down beside her best friend, taking her hand. "Stella stay strong." Tears escaped her, as her eyes traveled down Stella's body. Her ripped dress was soaked, and the blood was forming a puddle on the floor. The nature fairy popped up on the other side of Stella._

" _We need to keep pressure on the wounds." Flora instructed. Bloom put on a brave face and nodded. She tried to cover the biggest one on her stomach, leaning down on the gaping wound to put pressure on it. All it did was making her hands bloody as well._

" _Tecna we need a shield." The red head shouted._

" _I'm on it." The fairy of technology called back. "Fire wall."_

" _We can't stay here." Musa shot in. Landing next to Bloom, she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder._

" _We can't move her." Bloom was nearly panicking, as the light from Stella's eyes faded. "Hang in there Stella. It's going to be ok." She soothed._

" _You're trapped." The countess taunted. "There is no way you are going to be ok. Guards seize them all. We only need one of them alive." On cue the guards stepped up their game, sending various sun attacks at the shield surrounding them._

" _I can't hold them back much longer. Bloom, any ideas?" Tecna was struggling to keep on her feet. About to give away to the guard's forces, Musa stepped in lending Tecna a hand._

" _Can't you heal her?" The bluenette asked._

" _I'll try." The read head, already with her hands on the wound, focused her energy into healing. She took a shaky breath to try and steady her breathing. Not even noticing she was trembling before Flora put her hand on top of hers._

" _Together." The brunette assured her, and together they did it. The wounds started to close up, but not nearly fast enough. Too much blood had left her body. The feeling of being alone was creeping up on her. She put two fingers at her friends' neck checking for a pulse, there was none. That's when the barrier around them broke, and the guards came charging towards them.'_

Suddenly he was there, stroking her chin. Wiping away her tear. "Calm down"

"She's dead" She could barely breath at this moment. She realized it was because she had been screaming.

"Who's dead?"

 **A.N. Thank you for all the reviews. I love that some of you ask me about the story, and even though I don't reply, I do very much appreciate it. It makes my day. I won't give you a direct answer, because the answers will come in later chapters. And also it would be no fun giving up the answers like that. :P**

 **One of you (You know who you are.) commented on how I only have a few grammar mistakes. Firstly, thank you for telling me I was really worried I was making a lot of errors. Secondly this made me really happy since English is a foreign language for me and grammar has never been my strongest side.**


	5. Chapter 5

Her eyes were so dreamy. He was convinced they held the secret of the world behind them. The way she looked at him, like she could see something no one else could. It awoke something in deep inside him, something he didn't recognize nor did he notice. For a split second she got the same glimpse in her eye that she got in the stairs.

"NOOO" He was thrown out of his own thoughts by an ear piercing scream. Everyone in the ballroom heard her. How could they not, the girl had lungs like a siren.

"You know, if you didn't want to dance, you could have just said so." He half joked. "No need to yell."

"She's dead." She was barely looking at him when she said it. It was like her mind was elsewhere.

"Who's dead?" He asked. She quickly let go of him, starting to spiral around herself.

"But, she was right here. Where did she go?" The red head seemed so lost. He tried to reach out to her, but she refused his hand

"Bloom are you ok?" A brunette at the same age came up to the girl, presumably her friend, three more followed her among them the princess of Solaria.

"We'll take it from here." The princess said. This was his cue to leave, he didn't need the attention, but somehow he felt bad for leaving the poor girl.

* * *

The ballroom was spinning, or maybe it was her. She couldn't escape the looks people were giving her. They were whispering among themselves. Saying she was crazy. Maybe she was. Whatever she saw, it clearly didn't happen. Did it? Now even she was starting to believe she was crazy.

"Bloom" She heard a somewhat familiar voice. It sounded faint and very far away. "Are you ok?" There it was again.

"Sweetie can you hear me?" She didn't realize her vision was blurry before someone wiped a tear away from her face. She brought her hand up to wipe away the rest. When the fog cleared Flora was there, along with Tecna, Musa and Stella. Flora put a hand on her shoulder.

"Breath Bloom." The flower fairy said when she realized she had gotten Blooms attention.

"Let's get you out of here." Musa said, carefully taking hold of her other hand leading them out of the ballroom.

"I'm going crazy." The red head sobbed.

"No you are not." This was Stella, she was walking in front of them clearing the path for them.

"I'm sorry I ruined your party Stella." She continued sobbing.

"Stop it Bloom!" Stella snapped, probably not meaning to sound so harsh. "Your wellbeing is more important than some stupid party." All the girls were a little taken aback by Stellas sudden outburst.

"Besides, you just saved me from having to socialize anymore with that awful mother daughter duo. Can you believe it? Cassandra even had the nerve to suggest to my father that Chimera Should get the room next to mine. That's where I keep my shoes. There is no way I'm going to let this dress thief take away my shoes as well."

Bloom couldn't help but laugh a little, embracing her friend in a bear hug.

"Hey Bloom, careful or I'm going to start crying too, if my mascara starts running I'm blaming you." Stella half joked.

"Oh shut up Stella." Musa bursted, joining the hug. Soon they were all hugging.

There was a cough, and the girls broke the hug turning to see who had interrupted their moment. Brandon was standing there with a look of guilt for disturbing them. Without looking at anyone particular he said. "The ship is ready."

Bloom was more than a little confused. Did they have to leave already, but before she could ask any questions Stella spoke.

"Right." Stella stepped away from the group. "Stay with them." She instructed her boyfriend. "I need to speak with my dad before we go. I'll meet you back at the ship."

The images of Stellas all green and soaked in blood flooded back to Bloom as she let out a protest. "NO" Stella turned, guilt visible in her eyes.

"I need to do this Bloom. I'll be right back." Her friend tried to reassure.

Thinking of something to say before Stella got the chance to leave, but time was running out, as Stella was already walking. "At least let me come with you."

Her friend hesitated before turning. "I'm not letting you back in there." There was a pause before she added. "It's for your own good."

"Then at least take Flora with you." Taking a hesitant glance to her left as if to say sorry to her friend for throwing her under the bus. "She could occupy Cassandra and Chimera while you talk to your father."

Hesitantly Flora put her hand on Bloom's shoulder stepping forward. "It wouldn't hurt." The brunet smiled weakly.

"And it's not like they would let you speak with him alone seeing as how they have been looked at his side the whole evening." Musa said playfully hitting Bloom's other shoulder.

"Fine." Sounding tired Stella agreed.

Smiling a small thanks to her friend for supporting her, Bloom felt a little better letting her friend back into the ballroom. She knew she was in the magical dimension, but what was the chance her vision would actually come true? Though watching Stella and Flora reenter the castle only made the nagging feeling in the back of her mind grow rapidly.

"Wow, you must really be out of it?" Brandon remarked, throwing the red head out of her trance. "Usually you would have been a little more, well you." Hitting him with the elbow he got a warning stare from Musa and Tecna. Bloom just stared at him with a puzzled look, wondering what he meant by that.

 **Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Please review what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6

Casualties

While Stella and the girls had been having _'fun'_ on Solaria, Aisha had been kept pretty busy herself on Tides. It was night when she arrived, but there was no time for pleasantries, as the seas of Tides was being conquered by an escapee from the Omega dimension. Her father was the one that had summoned her, and she knew he was holding something back from her. Supposedly the convict had opened the portal linking the two dimensions together, escaping the icy prison, and turning the mermaid guards into lackeys.

The water was polluted to the degree that the mermaid living there couldn't breathe in it anymore. Running her hand through the muddy and sludgy water was like running her hand through syrup. The stickiness made it unbearable to swim through. That's why all the mermaids that hadn't already been turned into mindless minions had turned to the surface, but that didn't help them much either as up there they were like sitting ducks.

Aisha was leading the rescue team, searching for mermaids that may still be themselves. There wasn't much luck, since the few they found that were still alive, were either cornered by the mutated once, or fighting with little luck to stay on top of the waves. To top it all off there wasn't enough clean sea water left on the planet to house all the mermaids they saved. At this rate the merpeople would be extinct within a few months, weeks maybe.

The mere thought of it broke Aisha's heart, and it didn't help that she didn't know whether her family under the sea was alive or not. Her mother had tried contacting her aunt through the queen's mirror. One of two pieces of a magical mirror, allowing you to speak to anyone as long as they were near water, the other piece was with the queen of the sea, her aunt Ligea. Even though there was no luck, it didn't mean she wasn't alive, it only meant she wasn't close to water, her mother tried to reassure her. Though it didn't help, as mermaids couldn't be away from water for too long without drying out. None of the mermaids they had rescued had heard anything about their location either, but she still tried to hold on to hope. She wasn't going to show any weakness to this _'new'_ enemy. Not a chance.

Using her morphix powers she made a shield to protect two struggling mermaids from getting hit by the waves, and lifting the sisters out of the polluted water with her magic. She landed them safely onto the ship, handing them over to two of the guards ready to get them in with the others.

They had been out there the whole day with little luck. It was almost time to head back, but something caught Aisha's attention from the corner of her eye, which made her stop midair and turn back. The omega portal. The maids used to tell her ghost stories about how the criminals would break free and take her, if she didn't behave like a princess. Off course she didn't believe them. The portal didn't actually look much like a portal, making it hard to believe it was one, but now that it was active it was pretty obvious. A bright crystal blue beam of energy was rising from the spiraled hill.

"Princess." Odero called out. Drawing her attention away from the portal. "It's time to head back." He's the general of the Armies of Tides, and her fathers most trusted friend. It wasn't a coincidence that they had ended up on the same rescue team, it was obvious he was there to protect her. She knew her father was just worrying for her safety, but she didn't need a babysitter and she was determent to prove it to him. She had been refusing his help every time he offered, eventually he stopped, and she felt a jolt of satisfaction, but the feeling didn't last as her behavior only made him smirk.

As she landed with a huff beside him, his smile grew gentler. "Good work princess." He wasn't surprised when she didn't take his compliment.

"This is no time to be grinning." Was her only answer. She made her way past him and into the ship before detransforming and returning to her previous post beside their lookout, watching the ravaged landscape of Andros.

"I meant no offence Aisha." Odero had settled to stand in the door.

"This is getting ridiculous." She turned around to face him, snapping at him. "When are you going to stop following me around."

"When we get back to the shore." He said confirming what she already knew. She was a little surprised he did. "But before that I'm supposed to keep an eye on you at all times."

"Great." She sighed and turned back to the view.

"Look I know you don't like this arrangement. . ." Not able to finish the sentence before Aisha butted in.

"What gave you that impression." Rolling her eyes without realizing it.

"Would you prefer to be locked in the castle?" He snapped. This threw her back a little.

"I'm not here to punish you." He said with a calmer voice. The same voice he used before he and her father would leave for important meetings. She could remember back when he had raven black hair. He would always wear his hair in a ponytail when he visited her father. Now his hair was shorter, and the color had turned gray over the years, but it was still long enough to pot in a low ponytail. He hadn't changed much other than that. _'Though she was not a fan of the goat beard he had grown.'_

He placed his hand on her shoulder, making her face him. Taking off his glasses he looked her in the eyes. "We are at war." He stated. Before she rolled her eyes once more, he continued. "Your father is getting old, and you are the only heir to the throne. I'm here to protect the future of our realm, mainly you. I'd give my life for you if it came to that. We knew we couldn't stop you from taking part in this war, now that you are of legal age, but we could control which part. So your father put you in my ship, to keep you from sneaking out on your own."

Aisha seemed to calm down a bit. To be honest she had considered going on her own, and she almost did it to, but the tone in her father's voice when they talked earlier had stopped her.

"I'd like to be your partner not your warden." Taking a little pause to let her chew on his words. "I'd like to teach you everything I know about war, and how to win."

Relived when the lookout interfered their conversation, to tell them everyone were deporting, Aisha almost ran out of the ship. Ignoring the protests, she got from Odero, she made her way back to the castle.

She was aiming for her room when something caught her attention. There were a lot of men coming out from her father's office, followed by her father. They were high class people, she could tell by their clothes, and they weren't from Tides either. She was going to approach her father when she saw his expression. He seemed tired and angry. She wanted to comfort him somehow.

"Dad?" she called for him when the hallway had started clearing. He turned to her and his hard expression softened up a bit. It was clear for them that they both had had a very challenging day. "Who was that?"

"That was the magic council." Hi seemed to sink a little deeper by mentioning them.

"What did they want?" Feeling anger build up, by the way they had left her father. She sent a glance after them.

"Not here. Get Odero and let's discuss this in my office." It took some time before she reacted, she wasn't going to be kept on the sideline of this. She moved in for a hug, usually he wasn't one for hugs, surprising both himself and her when he hugged back.

* * *

While Aisha was putting on her war paint, the Trix were having some fun on their own plotting their revenge against the Winx club. They had gotten comfortable in the caves below the Omega portal. Although they weren't completely satisfied with being left behind while Baltor was out ravaging royalty in other realms, they did see the logic as there was less chance for him to be recognized, since they had been a lot on the Inter Realm News after escaping from the fortress of light rock and joining Lord Darkar to take over the world.

Well, most of them got it. Stormy didn't quite get it. She was stomping around sending smaller jolts of lightning into the caves creating eerie light effects.

"Will you stop that." Darcy snapped. Looking a little frustrated herself. "If you're so impatient then go torture some of the mermaids. All this static electricity is ruining my hair."

"I've already tortured them all." She huffed. "When is it our turn to have some fun?"

Darcy sighed, ignored her sister, and went back resting her eyes.

"Icy would agree with me." Stormy complained. "By the way, where is Icy?" This seemed to interest Darcy as she sat up and inspected the cave herself for any sign of Icy.

Icy was determined, this time was going to be different. This time she was going to win, and she would crush Bloom once and for all, that bitch was going to pay for what she had done. That was why she had left her sisters. She needed peace and quiet to plot her revenge against Bloom, and she was planning to use Aisha as bait to draw the redhead into her trap.

With what she knew this would be child's play. During her last days with Darkar, she had seen something fairly interesting in the spy globe. Aisha had been smooching with Bloom's blondie. She wanted to take her time to really enjoy this. So while she waited, she was going to send Aisha on wild goose hunts after her aunt. Some false rumors here and there would keep the princess occupied.

She came back to her sisters with a devilish smile on her face, and an even colder aura then what they had been exposed to in Omega, if that was even possible.

* * *

Dun! Dun! DUN! Who is Odero? Does he have any alternate motives for when being friendly with Aisha? Or is he just interested in the welfare of their planet? Who is he?


	7. Chapter 7

After breaking out of the Omega dimension, all he could think about was finding her. She was the one that got away. For a moment he thought he had found her in Solaria. She had stumbled over him quite literally. Once in the stairs and once on the balcony. He was going to kill her once and for all, that's why he had followed her to the balcony, and then it turned out that she wasn't the princess after all.

She didn't have the birthmark. It would have looked like a burn to an untrained eye, placed under her bangs, but there was nothing there when he checked. He was starting to wonder if he saw what he wanted to see, that he had become so desperate after spending 17 years in that frozen hell he would mistake any redhead for the princess. Besides she would never have been hidden so obvious, Daphne was smarter than that. It most definitely wouldn't be this easy to find her. No, he had to push these thought out of his head.

He was taking back his power, he could focus on the princess when he was done. Right now he was seeking out some of his old contacts from the war, including spies and old lieutenants from 'his' army, the ones that was still alive and free that was.

He was tempted to call for Griffin, as they had once been inseparable. The closer they had gotten to winning the war the more intimate their relationship had gotten, but then suddenly she had a change of heart. She had left him for the enemy, and exposed their war tactics, forcing him to act sooner than planned. Her betrayal still hung heavy in the air. He would pay her a visit, but not yet, he would have to wait until he had built up enough power.

In the meantime, he would have to settle with his old informants. It took some time locating the spy's that hadn't been exposed after the war. Luckily for him, Griffin never knew who his informants were. They both had their own sources, that way if one of them were captured, they couldn't expose each other's secrets.

With a little searching he found Elvara. She had been one of his most valuable informants before and during the war. First time they had met she was only 17 years old, this was almost 50 years ago. He had taken an interest in her when he discovered her talent. He had helped her land a spot at the magic council after she had finished her three years at Alfea, although she would have been a much better fit for cloud tower.

He was not surprised to see she had climbed higher in the ranks of the council over the years. Locating her wasn't hard, as the woman wasn't shy to attention. When approaching her he had to be careful, as most of the council was likely to recognize him. He snuck into her office, being careful not to set off any alarms. It was a shame they hadn't done a better job at updated their security system over the years, at least for them, _someone with the right skillset might break in._ He couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought.

He didn't have to wait long before she came back from her meeting, but he had enough time to take a look around. Her bookshelves were filled with books on the history of the magical universe, the laws of magic, and of course the many laws the magic council enforces throughout the universe. Looking over at the photos she had standing on her desk, he could see pictures of a child, and he knew it was the child she had been pregnant with during the war. He had briefly met the young girl after she was received a week before the war had ended, _or rather paused._

In another picture he could see a more recent picture of the girl, it was strange how much the girl resembled her mother. They shared the same orange blonde hair and pine green eyes. He was thrown back to the present as the door opened and clicking of heels came dancing over the floor.

"Love what you've done with the place." He smirked referring to her "new" office. New in the sense that it didn't belong to her 17 years ago. It used to belong to her superior, one of the many councilmen he had had the pleasure of killing.

She was dressed like a business woman with a tight skirt that went down to her knees and a navy blue cape blazer over a white shirt. Her hair was set up in a tight bun at the top of her head, and her pine green eyes met his with a glint of hope.

"What have we here, the ancestral witches' lap dog?" The lady in front of him teased back. "I thought you were in omega serving a life sentence."

"It didn't suit." The dark wizard smirked, cracking his neck at the mention of the dreadful prison he had escaped from.

"No, that coat doesn't suit!" Elvara said, sitting down on her desk in front of him. "You're gonna have to let me buy you a new one."

He looked at the woman in front of him. Time had been kind to her. She was as radiating as the first time they had met almost 60 years ago. Although she was 75, she didn't look a day over 40. An age that suited her personality. _The wonder of magic._

"As much as I ' _love'_ your fashion tips. That's not why I'm here."

"I know. You're here to start a war."

"No. I'm here to finish one." His smirk grew darker, blending in with the darkness around.

"And you want my help. You know what my job is right?" It was a rhetorical question she knew he just couldn't resist to answer.

"You find and bring down the ones who sided with the ancestral witches during the war." He said as if the fact was nothing to be bothered by. "I know. I took a look at the list of people you have brought in over the years, and you know what I found?" There was a little pause where he thought she might start to laugh, but the laughter never came. Though she was definitely entertained. "They were all traitors, people who deserted their posts in the final battle."

* * *

Trying to talk to her father without Cassandra and Chimera hanging around his neck, was like trying to remove a piece of gum from your hair without using any magic.

"Whatever you have to say to your father, you can say to us too. We're soon family after all." The countess said. Her smile as fake as her boobs.

"Yes sister, you can tell me anything." Chimera buttered her voice in theater for the King.

Stella was so close to hitting her square in the jaw. _'Take that for family.'_ Luckily Flora was there to calm her dawn. The nature fairy put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"It's about her mother, and I don't think that Stella is ready for you to hear this right now." Flora spoke. Stella inwardly thanked the great dragon Bloom convinced her to bring a diplomat.

"This doesn't concern you peasant." Chimera spat at the brunette, making the fairy jump back a little.

"Don't you talk to my friend like that." Stella snapped back, jumping to Fora's defense.

"I meant no disrespect." She could hear her friend say from behind.

"How can you let your daughter treat Chimera like this? I won't stand for it." Cassandra sounded just loud enough for Stella to hear her, creeping closer to her father's side.

"I've taught you better than this Stella. Apologize to Chimera at once." Radius said not with the voice of her loving father, but with the voice of a commander. Stella instantly knew something was wrong. First off he had never used this voice with her, maybe once or twice with her mother but never her. Secondly her father would never have let anyone talk to commoners like Chimera did. He had always pride himself on the strength of their people, saying that a kingdom was only as good as the union between the royals and the commoners.

"No, are you kidding me?" The princess bursted out. Though unintentional from Stella's side it drew people's attention, at the time she couldn't care less. Things had taken a turn for the worse after she had left for Alfea. How could her father betray her like this? Leave her mother for some bitsy skank.

"Calm down Stella" Flora pleaded.

"No I'm not gonna calm down. That BITCH is trying to steal my father." You could see her eyes starting to water as well as her voice was starting to crack.

"Your daughter is making a scene Radius. This is not fitted behavior for the princess of Solaria." The countess said, not bothering to lower her voice this time. Her offended expression had an underlying tone of a smirk. The people who had been staring turned away, starting to snicker amongst themselves.

"Who are you to say?" The princess barked back. Desperation growing in her voice.

"That's enough Stella. Show a little respect to your new mother." Her father broke her off. Looking at her with eerie disappointment.

Desperation grew in Stella. His voice brought her back to when her mother still lived in the castle together with them. Back when they were still a family, _when she still had a family._ It was so long ago. Now they were broken, all of them, like a mirror, the pieces of their family shattered across the floor, and left in the dark.

The floor was shifting under her. She glanced over at the countess who was looking at her with a daunting smirk. _'You lose'._ And at that moment she swore the woman had grown horns. With tears threatening to fall she stormed out with the nature fairy in tow.

"MOVE" She yelled to one of the guards on her way, the young man quickly obeying.

It was a miracle she was still standing when she got out of there. There was a flash of red before she was caught in a thigh hug, a hug that could have chocked a cow, but at the moment it was the only thing keeping her from falling off a cliff.

 **Sorry for the long wait between updates. Shit happened, I believe you can relate.**

 **If you have the time, please leave a comment and tell me what you think.**


End file.
